The Case Against Splitting Up the MMR Vaccine
The Real Truth About Vaccines
Why are we once again talking about splitting up MMR into separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines?
The usual suspects…
The History of the MMR Vaccine
First of all, know that the combined MMR vaccine is safe and effective, with few side effects, so there is no good reason to split it up again.
Yes, again!
The separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines were combined to form the MMR vaccine way back in 1971.
And this MMR vaccine was updated in 1978 - to MMR-II (Merck), by switching out the rubella component to one that had fewer side effects.
Lastly, we recently got another MMR vaccine, Priorix (GSK), which was approved in the United States in 2022, but had been used in other countries since 1997.
So we have two MMR vaccines that have been safely given to hundreds of millions of children over the years, just in the United States.
Oh, and the separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines were discontinued in the United States in 2009, mostly because they were no longer being used.
What else?
Few other countries use separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines!
While they are still made in Japan, over 95% of Japanese kids now get the combined measles and rubella vaccines.
Even in Japan though, there is once again a shift to getting a combined MMR vaccine, after they stopped using the MMR vaccine in 1993 because the mumps component (different from the one in our MMR) was associated with aseptic meningitis.
Why?
The only effect of splitting up the MMR was that kids got more measles, mumps, and rubella, including:
endemic measles cases through 2015, more than 15 years after it was controlled in the United States!
regular outbreaks of mumps, with associated complications, including meningitis, orchitis, arthritis, myocarditis, nephritis, polyneuropathy, hepatitis, and oophoritis.
a rubella outbreak in 2012–2013 that caused about 15,000 cases of rubella and 43 cases of congenital rubella syndrome.
And while separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines are also available in China, nearly all kids get the combined MMR vaccine.
So Donald Trump’s gold standard plan to split up the MMR is something that very few other countries are doing…
The Case Against Splitting Up the MMR Vaccine
That no one else is doing it isn’t a good reason to not do it though.
What are good reasons?
How about the simple fact that there is no evidence that it’s necessary?
After all, there was autism before we had the MMR vaccine, there is autism in countries that don’t use the MMR vaccine, and there are unvaccinated kids who are autistic.
It is ridiculous to think that splitting up the MMR vaccine and getting the separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines and separate visits will change autism rates.
It is especially ridiculous when there are much better explanations for why we have been seeing more autistic kids over the years, like the change in DSM criteria, new laws that mandate kids with disabilities to be allowed to go to public schools, more screening, and increased awareneness.
Things that anti-vaccine influencers never mention, always focusing on vaccines.
Again though, like most of the world, we don’t even have separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines.
But can’t we just start making them again?
Uh, well, it’s not as easy as flipping a switch, putting in an order, and getting your separate vaccines the next day, or next month, or next year!
There would have to be new clinical trials, which would be difficult, as rates of rubella and mumps are fairly low, thanks to most people getting vaccinated and protected.
And even with record setting cases of measles, it would likely still be hard to do a trial that didn’t rely on immunobridging, which RFK, Jr is against.
Mostly though, splitting up the MMR vaccine and making kids get only one vaccine at a time will greatly delay how long it takes to get kids vaccinated and protected.
It also increases the number of injections that will be required and increases the chance that doses will be missed.
Why?
All because Donald Trump and Secretary RFK, Jr are reviving a fraudulent claim originally made by Andy Wakefield over 25 years ago...
And then there is the fact that they are doing all of this in the setting of record-breaking cases of measles!
Make that make sense…
More on the MMR Vaccine
A Reminder That The Lancet is Partly to Blame for the Destruction That Kennedy Has Wrought
Why Secretary RFK, Jr Is Responsible for Our Record Setting Measles Outbreaks
Propaganda from the National Vaccine Information Center About MMR Deaths
Splitting the MMR vaccine into its three components will be difficult
Trump wants MMR vaccine split up: the science behind why it’s a bad idea